Borough gets boost in Alliance Grant

NAUGATUCK — The Board of Education’s 2018-19 Alliance Grant allocation is about $1.3 million, an increase of $235,729 over last school year.

The funding initiative was started by the state in 2012 to aid so-called Alliance Districts, the 30 lowest-performing public school systems measured by performance on statewide tests.

The grant is used to fund educational initiatives or staff, such as instructors and textbooks. Naugatuck uses the grant to pay for various staff members, including five full-time school counselors, five full-time reading consultants, three full-time instructional coaches, and the director of curriculum, according to information presented to the school board in September.

The new strategies the grant will pay for include increasing a part-time English language learner teacher to full time, increasing professional learning and support for new educators, and curriculum materials and resources to support the implementation of the newly-developed humanities and science curricula.

Am I reading this correctly? Naugatuck’s school system is at the BOTTOM ranking in the state, and they get rewarded a grant, and hire new/more people. Why not start at the top and fire a few administrators for not doing their jobs? Then, give that money (as bonuses) to the teachers that ARE doing what’s expected. The assistant superintendent just received a new contract with automatic raises for the next 3 years. It’s no wonder Naugatuck’s taxes (and CT.’s) are out of control… The people in office have no common sense. .